Wednesday, October 27, 2010

It's launch week at the gym. That means that we (Les Mills Class instructors) are presenting all new music and choreography. I have to learn 34 new songs from three different classes: Body Pump, Body Attack, and Body Step. It is a bit stressful because I am a bit of a perfectionist when I teach. I don't like making any mistakes. I mean, really, people are paying for me to help them get a good workout and the least I can do is present the most perfectly executed class that I can. I probably obsess about this and spend too much time practicing.

One of the things I have learned is the necessity to know my limits. I teach a minimum of 5 classes at week with a maximum of 8. Any more than 8 and I am risking getting injured. I already get out of bed with creaky joints. Of course that might just be my age rather than my activity level. My goal in all of this is to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

This race was different from anything I had ever been in. It was an off road race. It had Mud, rocks, broken up trails, huge tire ruts, MUD, sand, holes, grass, slippery spots, puddles, MUD.

Ok so I mentioned the mud. Fortunately I tried to avoid mud and puddles as much as possible and only hit a couple spots that made my shoes dirty. This was a hard race for me because

1. Not knowing what to expect, up to this point I have only ran on streets, flat grass or sidewalks, so running off road in all those conditions mentioned above were hard.

2. It hadn't rained in 4 weeks, but the night before this race rained super hard several times so there was mud and puddles everywhere.

3. I was in a costume and had never run in such a thing before. I had some running tights on below the costume, but that made me very hot and during the race I became over heated many times and had to slow down or walk fast.

As a result of all this my time was slower than my last race. I had a time of 31:02 and only placed 6th in my age group. Had I ran a usual time, like 28:02 or better like my last race, then I would have placed 3rd in my age group. Oh well I guess, so great that I finished.

I haven't run much since my half marathon, in fact maybe only twice a week I have found time to run about 3 miles each time. Running is super hard for me. I find it so great to finish, but so hard to do. I am dying each time on the inside with breathing and all the aches and pains that go with running. There are times I feel just awesome when I run, but most times it's just plain hard. I have come a long way with running because I only started running in March and back then it was only a 1/2 mile and then I was done. I slowly worked up to 3.1 miles within 2 months and from there increased it. I have a long way to go before I like running, but it's getting better each week. I just need to remember that getting good at something takes practice like everything else.

Recently I began teaching more Zumba classes. I now teach up to 8 per week. There have been weeks where I have taught 9 but no more of that hopefully. I love Zumba because it is Latin Dance and it's aerobics. You have both mixed. Some songs are all dance and some songs are just aerobic moves and some are a mix, ok most are a mix. Zumba is where I can be creative and if I want to teach an American Hip Hop song, or a country line dance I can, or I can stick to the Latin stuff the entire class. Seems like most classes I have requests for one of the hip hop songs I have taught in the past.

When I started teaching more in September and October I began some bad habits of eating. I started eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and while you would think that with all this exercise that it would be okay to have cake, ice cream, candy and other high calorie food, well it's not okay all the time and that's exactly what I've been doing.

As a result I have put on 9 pounds. OUCH. This is never a good thing and that has to change.

I always have a wake up call when the scale says 145 or higher because I don't ever want to go back to 220 and with the gaining of 2 pounds a week that's where I'll be in a year if I don't stop.

Ok, so now I've written this OUTLOUD for the world to see, so it's time to do something about it.

My goal will be like in the past when I was loosing weight. I will write down what I eat and see where it is that I cheat. I'm pretty sure it's during the middle of the day and later at night, so right now it's later at night and I wanted ice cream badly, but instead I drank a bunch of water and then put a piece of sugarless gum in my mouth. That helps, but the ice cream is still calling me.

Makes me wonder: If I ate right for an entire month and did all this exercise, what weight would I be? And how much better would I feel?

I have been feeling like a slug for 4 weeks and I know it's all about the bad eating. Sugar just brings you down. There is a natural high at first that makes you feel good, but then later you feel like garbage and are down on yourself for two reasons, the weight gain and how you feel.

So it starts now. I'm 145.6 on the home scale as of this morning. I will weigh myself next Sunday in the morning and see what it tells me.

Meanwhile in addition to writing down my food for the week I will make sure I get in 8 miles of running. 5 miles on Monday is the goal and 3 miles on Friday. The reason I picked those days is because both of those days I don't teach Zumba so I have the extra energy to run.

I just signed up for what I'm thinking is my last race this year. A Turkey Trot. It is on November 13th in Marion, Iowa. It is a 5 mile race.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Today was a local race right here in Iowa City at the University of Iowa campus. It is called Ponseti Race. This race was to raise money for those who have club feet.http://www.uiortho.com/races/

This race was chip timed so the results are super accurate and there was food at the end of the race (always a plus)!

The picture on the left is me right after I arrived home from the race.

The weather was gorgeous today, started in the mid 60's and was around the mid 70's during the race. Beautiful weather for October and perfect for running.

I felt wonderful the entire race and only had a few moments where I had to talk myself into continuing to run. There were a couple bad hills near the end of the race, one of which was so steep that I walked fast up it.

Even though I felt great I had no idea that I was running faster than usual. My ending time was a new personal best. It was 28:02 I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the time clock at the end of the race and then printed my results and it said the same thing. And to think if I hadn't walked up that last hill I could have had a 27 minute time. In shock still. Training is really paying off.

This next picture is me later in the day at the apple orchard wearing my race shirt. My son Jared took this picture.

Friday, October 8, 2010

This week has been pretty busy and I'm glad it's almost over since I need my Sunday rest day!

On Wednesday I started teaching Zumba for the VA hospital. It starts at 4:10p.m. for a 45 minute class and then right after that there is a 5 minute break only to follow with another 45 minute class.

I thought that maybe only about 10-15 would show up for Zumba at the hospital. I thought this because the Healthy Living Director (who is also a Nutritionist) said that about 8-10 come in for the yoga and strength classes.

I show up early and begin my introduction to my class about Zumba. I usually say something like this:

Zumba is Latin Dance Aerobics. It is for anyone of any age, any aerobic capability and any gender. It takes about 4-6 classes to catch on if you aren't coordinated, but after that you will get it and love it and it will end up being such a healthy addiction that you will want to Zumba every day!

So I start the class with about 15 in the room. Then people just kept on coming in, so much in fact that the Director of the Healthy Living program had to move tables out of the conference room and make more room for us. It was crazy packed in there. We must have had at least 25-30 people in there. They seemed to love it. Many of them took my Zumba business card and e-mailed me the next day saying they loved it and couldn't wait till next Wednesday. Well I can't wait either cause I love teaching Zumba the most. In fact I cut one of my Sculpt classes so I could teach Zumba. I was teaching Sculpt 3 times a week and now it's only two and I got rid of a Step class as well so I could teach another Zumba another time. The only days I don't teach Zumba is Saturday and Sunday.

This week so far I have taught Zumba 9 times and still have one tonight. I just hope my legs don't give out cause they are super tired this morning, in fact I'm laying here with ice packs on the knees and then the ice packs will move to the shins and then to the soleus muscles (mine are always tight my doctor says) and then the ankles. You get the idea. I'm tired, but ready to do it all again in just 8 hours!

Friday, October 1, 2010

I had a couple new ladies in my Zumba class a month ago. After class they asked me for my e-mail because they said they had questions.

I received an e-mail a short time later asking me if I would consider teaching Zumba at their dance studio 25 minutes Northeast of my home. Now that's quite a travel time, so I was hesitant with my answer, but then replied this:

As long as I could receive $5.00 per student who signs up or drops in for class AND if there are less than 6 students, then still receive $25 an hour to teach.

They agreed and that started last week. I teach Tuesday late morning and Thursday later evening.

Tuesday morning's class was ok, there were 5 there and so I got the minimum.

Thursday night last week was a whole different story. There were 15 in attendance (13 of which signed up on the spot for a 6 week session) so I knew no matter what I'd be paid for 13 of them every Thursday night. I was just blown away that 15 showed up on the first night of Zumba, but glad also because that meant $75 for just that hour.

This week was different. Tuesday morning's class had 5 again (but 2 people were different than the week before because 2 others were out of town)

Then there is Thursday night, not only did the 13 that signed up actually come back, but the 2 others that hadn't signed up last week, did sign up and pay. AND then 3 more showed up and paid for the remaining 5 weeks.

So this means for last night I made $90 for that class.

I just can't believe that first my offer was even accepted to get paid at this rate and second that people are so excited and showing up and coming back.

I hope I can stay healthy and be able to teach Zumba for a very long time since it seems to be very profitable and I'll be able to replace my Pampered Chef income before long if this attendance keeps up!

Awesome thing is, the owner has a huge gym so we could possibly have up to 50 people in there if that many signed up! So here's hoping that this opportunity continues to become awesome so I can pay our student loan bills.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

So far I feel like a noodle. I have taught so many classes this week, in fact 8 to be exact and I still have 4 to go. Zumba tonight, then Step early in the morning tomorrow, Body Sculpt at 8:45a.m. then Zumba tomorrow night. I just hope I can make it to Friday night.

In October I will be adding a class, but taking one away. Adding a Zumba and taking away a Body Sculpt on Fridays.

I want to get rid of Step, I just don't like teaching it anymore, so I'm sure that's next to go.

I haven't had a chance to run this week and haven't felt like I should yet due to the heavy aerobic teaching schedule I have this week. Hoping that next week I can run on Monday since I only teach Body Sculpt next Monday and then run again on Wednesday since next Wednesday I will only teach Body Sculpt again.

This weekend my son and husband and I are all doing a team race. It's called the Flying Pigs Duathlon. Brenden will run the 3.1 miles to start (since he has a faster 5K time than me) then Jason will bike for 20 miles and then I'll run 1.5 miles. After this race I don't have any scheduled till October 23rd because I paid for all my races back in July and don't have any extra money to pay for any races until November and even then it's doubtful.

I want to do a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day, it sounds fun, but will depend on if I'm donating plasma again to have the extra money for the $20 entry fee.

This ended up being a very small race, in fact I just looked up the race results and there were only 49 that ended up showing up to race. This is extremely small for a race, especially since over 100 had registered. It had been raining and lightening just an hour before the race so people probably got scared off by that is my guess and just slept in. Not me, when I pay for a race I show up!

This race divided people by age group for the awards. My age group had 7 people in it. Out of those 7 I placed first. I couldn't believe it, it was a shocker for sure. The #2 person finished a minute behind me, then the #3 finished a minute behind her.

My time was 29:38, which for me is fast. I actually had a little minute of walking during my race because I got too hot and had to take my jacket off, unpin my race number off my jacket and re-pin it to my tank top, then tie my jacket around my waist then continue running. I'm wondering now had I not taken all that time to do all that then I could have been in the 28 minute range.

Either way I'm super pleased with both my time and my results. So awesome.

Overall I placed #17 out of 49 total people

There were only 12 men that participated in this race and 37 women. Out of the women I was #8 out of 37 not too bad.

Problem with this is, I'm now even more addicted to running and can't wait till my next race!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Now that one of my major goals is completed (running an entire half marathon) I have decided to set a few more goals.

1. Run the Columbus, Ohio half marathon on May 7th and beat my current half marathon time by 13 minutes or more. (This would be shaving 1 minute per mile off my time)

2. Run the Park to Park half marathon again next September, 2011 and beat my half marathon time again by at least 6 minutes. (that's about 30 seconds shaved off per mile)

3. Run the Lewis and Clark Marathon (26.2 miles) in Sioux City, Iowa in October 2011 and FINISH.

I love goal three because of three reasons. 1. It is so hard to find marathons on Saturdays, in fact it's almost impossible, so to find this one was awesome. 2. For it to be in the same state, even better. 3. Then for it to be named Lewis and Clark, CLASSIC. If you don't know already my maiden name is Lewis, but now I'm a Clark. So wearing that shirt after the race will be fun!

So with these three hard goals I have some work to do.

Here is how I will proceed:

1. After I heal from all injuries from this last race I will run consistently every week. 3-5 miles on Mondays, 6-8 miles on Wednesdays or Saturday, and 3-5 miles on Friday.

2. I will up my mileage super slowly. Meaning, in a few weeks I will up things toMonday 4-6 miles, Wednesdays and or Saturdays 7-9 miles, and Fridays 4-6 miles

3. I will start doing Yoga, for I've heard this helps with not only flexibility, but with not feeling sore after races

4. I plan on running up to 15-18 miles by the time I do the Half Marathon in May, so I'm overly ready for that race. This way after the Half Marathon in May I can totally concentrate on training for the 26 miles race from June through October.

5. I will continue to cross train by doing Sculpting classes 3 times a week so my other muscles stay strong.

6. Realize that this is Possible and I need to stay focused each week.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Today was the day that I was scheduled to run my LONG run. I was actually worried about it.

It was 10 miles.

So last night I got on this fun website called map my ride.

It works like this. You type in your address and a green x goes on your house, then you move that x down streets and paths and the counter on the right says the mileage and it's 100% accurate for I've tested it with my car after a couple routes I did.

Anyway, last night I routed 10 miles and wrote down the directions on a tiny piece of paper that I could carry with me running.

At 5a.m. I woke up and dressed for my run. I ate a half banana so my stomach wouldn't be too full and drank some water. Then I left around 5:15a.m.

I ran and ran and ran and ran and ran some more. It was hard and there were many times I had to talk myself into continuing this CRAZY goal. Then I ran and ran.

Then I finally reached home again and to my surprise my time was 1 hour and 43 minutes. That is super awesome for me since that ends up being a 10 minute 15 second average mile and I'm usually so much slower than that, so to keep that pace for that long is super great! At least I think so. I reached home and stretched and walked a tiny bit.

I feel so ready for my Half Marathon next weekend now!!!! Hope that 3 more miles won't kill me.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The most awesome thing about this race was that my friends raced with me!

I teach a Body Sculpt class and for the last year and a half these three girls have been super loyal to my class and hardly ever miss it.

Stephanie and I have ran many races together this year, and we have been trying to talk Carmen and Bretta into racing with us since May.

Yesterday Carmen and Bretta did their first 5K race! I am so proud of them and glad they accomplished this goal! Stephanie came in 2nd place in her age group in the 5K and earned a medal! I ran the 10K and beat my last 10K time!

From left to right in the pictures is:

Carmen Davis, Bretta Shelton, Stephany Coleman and ME. I hope to do many more races together!

Here's all of us on Monday after Body Sculpt class sporting our shirts from the race. I think I look exhausted, guess that means I did a great class!

Friday, August 27, 2010

This week was tougher. I was scheduled to run 4 miles on Monday, 8 on Wednesday and 4-5 on Friday and then 6 on Saturday.

Monday was great, did the 4 miles early morning, the weather was beautiful and I completed my goal.

Wednesday came and I didn't want to get up early. I had a major attack of the lazy bug.

So I didn't run early morning on Wednesday, however after teaching Sculpt my friend Stephanie said she planned a long route for us to run. It was a 5 mile route. She said, "You can do the 5 miles now and then go home and do 3 later." So we ran 5 miles. It was a hilly route that about did me in and it was slightly hot out and very sunny. But we did it. However I never did run 3 more miles later in the day.

I decided to do 8 straight miles on Friday. That's exactly what happened today. I got up at 5:20 to get Daniel up (he is taking care of someone else's dogs this week). Anyway then I prepared for my run and left around 5:41 to be exact.

I was running for 93 minutes.

There were two really massive hills in the route I picked and those were very hard that I ended up walking up the end of the hills to make it to the top. Other than the small amount of walking up those massive hills I ran the rest of the way.

I am really glad I was able to do it and feel very ready to run 6 miles tomorrow (yes in a race again).

Then next week the schedule is 4 miles Monday, 9-10 on Wednesday, and then 4-5 on Friday and then 3 on Saturday.

Monday, August 23, 2010

As the title reads, only 19 days left until the Half Marathon (13.1 miles)

My goal was to run an entire Half Marathon this year. I have one scheduled on September 11th in Waterloo, Iowa.

I'm excited for the race, and extremely scared at the same time.

I have been running every other day to every other 2 days for the last 5 months. Mostly I have been running 2-3 miles, but recently realized that I should be running further than 3 miles to train for the race.

I looked at many different training schedules online and found one that fit what I felt was safe and doable.

According to the schedule I had to run 3 miles on Monday last week, 7 miles on Wednesday, 3 miles on Friday and then 3 on Saturday. I accomplished that.

This week is 4 miles today, 8miles on Wednesday, 1-2 on Friday and 6 on Saturday

Next week 4 miles on Monday, 9 miles on Wednesday, 4 miles on Friday, 7 on Saturday

Week of my race 3 miles on Monday, 3 miles on Wednesday, Rest on Thursday, 1 mile on Friday and then 13.1 for the race on Saturday.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Had a great race in Lone Tree, Iowa today. It was their Fall Festival and they had a 5K Run/Walk and a 1-Mile Fun Run. I'm still not sure how you can call running fun, but it's slowly getting easier.

My friend Stephany drove me to this race. She had an excellent time of 29:05 her best time ever. She placed 2nd in her age group.

Best thing about this race was I won a door prize. A $10 Gift Certificate to Sheels (a local sporting goods store)!

My time today was 31:04 better than last week, but slower than a couple of my other 5K times. I feel like I'm getting slower for three reasons.
1. My muscles seem so tight lately. I'm sure it's the amount of classes I teach along side trying to train to run.

2. I'm running longer distances more often and to do that you have to really pace yourself. My long distance pace is an 11 minute mile and I think I just run too slow the entire way.

3. I really don't know what I'm doing. This past week from last Saturday to today I have run 22.6 miles. To me this is amazing since I went from last year of NO running ever and not ever planning on it to running at least 10-15 miles a week now.
Last Saturday was 6.2 miles, Monday 3.1 miles, Wednesday was the long run of 7.1 miles, yesterday 3.1 miles, then today the race of 3.1 miles.

I'm currently training for a half marathon (13.1 miles) so to do this you have to have a long run each week and it has to be longer each time.

If only I had a 2nd day to rest. Maybe that's all I need for more speed in my running, not sure, so if you are reading this and are good at running, please post any suggestions on getting faster and enduring to the end.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Today my friend Stephanie and I got up super early to go to Cedar Rapids to run a race there. Here is a picture before the race.

This is my 9th race of the year. I never thought I'd like running, but today I actually had a great time. My time was 1:04:14 this beats my last 10K time of over a minute. I placed 13 out of 17 in my age group.

Here is a list of the races I've done so far this year:

May I did a 5K in Marion
June I did a 10K in Iowa City then a 5K in Burlington, Iowa
July I did a 5K, Half Marathon and the Bix 7 mile
August so far I have done a 5K and a 10K

I have a few more races planned, but the one I'm actually looking forward to is the Half Marathon on September 11th. My goal is to run the entire race because my first Half Marathon I walked half of it.

These are all small steps towards the ultimate goal of a Marathon by next October 2011.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Jason and I were recently in a couple races over the weekend in Okoboji, Iowa. He did the triathlon and I did the half marathon. Both were extremely hard races and I thought personally that I wasn't going to make it to the end of mine.

Jason said he felt great about his race and now feels ready to do an olympic distance triathlon soon.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

At first I was going to teach Tuesdays and Thursdays, however I just don't have the time to give up 2 nights a week. When I looked at my calendar, and the all the children's activities and with Caleb on tour I just don't have a 2nd night to give. So I agreed to just Tuesday nights.

This place has many unique weight loss methods and they encourage all employees to try out everything so we can tell everyone about it, so I see a European wrap or Algae wrap in my future. They both sound interesting and since they are free to me I am curious to try them.

The other place I'm working at is the North Liberty Recreation Center. I will teach Zumba one day a week there, and Body Sculpt 3 days a week. The pay isn't as great and isn't a sure thing, meaning if only 2 people sign up for your class then your pay is maybe only $7.00 for that hour. However if 8 people sign up for your class then you'd get $28. for that hour. This could be an incredible opportunity or a waste of time.

Like for instance the Body Sculpt so far has 5 in it, at least on Monday it did and with the rate per class that they are doing I will get $10.50 for Monday's class. That class really needs 10 in it to be worth my time for the pay I want and deserve per class. But then there's Zumba, with just 6 people in the class it would be great for pay.

So it's my job at the Rec center to make sure I advertise and get people in my class. I hope to grow the numbers and get lots of people there, otherwise I'll have to have them raise the price per person per class and I really don't want to do that. Typically $3.00 a class is what people like to pay, but then there are places (the big gyms) that charge $7.50 a class and people pay that.

Had I not walked up a couple of those massive hills I would have had a better mile pace. I'm just glad I finished and that I wasn't last. At mile 2 I was ready to give up, my ankle and hip were hurting and I just didn't feel like running. It also rained on me the last mile and that was completely miserable. However I plugged along and finally crossed the finish line.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Wow today hurts big time, one disappointment after another, it's hard to think about without crying, so I'll blog about it, then hopefully move on to better things.

Today I found out through a Grapevine (love the grapes, hate the vine) that the Ladies only gym that I teach at (5 classes a week) is closing at the end of June.

Not only will this be sad because I won't see certain people twice a week, but the extra financial help won't be there. ($450 a month may not sound like much, but it's a hard blow to our finances and seriously I'm not sure what we will do cause things are already so tight around here)

The thing that is so upsetting is the owner still hasn't notified me about this.

I called her this afternoon and left a voice message that said, "Hi it's Michelle and I heard through one of my Pampered Chef consultants that you are closng the gym. I hope this is just a rumor, please call me and let me know what's going on, here's my number. . . . Thanks"

so that was hours ago and still nothing.

So there you have it. I've cried enough, now time to move on I guess. Just hoping that tomorrow I feel tons better cause today I feel like run over garbage.

Friday, June 4, 2010

The other day knowing that Jason wants to do a couple triathlons this summer I told him about one at the U of Okoboji on July 17th. The reason I think that one would be great is because on the same day there is a 10K, Half Marathon and a Marathon at the same time. So I thought while he is doing his triathlon I could do a race as well. We would travel there the day before as to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary and have a day all to ourselves!

So I go online to register and get this crazy idea. I thought, "Well my goal this year is to do a 5K, 10K and a Half Marathon so by next year I could do a Marathon. AND since I've already done a 5K, and next week is a 10K, so since this race is 6 weeks away I could be ready for a Half Marathon by then, maybe just maybe."

Ok so yes that was a crazy thought since a Half Marathon is over double the distance of a 10K and technically haven't done the 10K yet. So who knows if it's even doable, really.

So I'm online and I register Jason for his event, then I get to my event. I noticed that the 10K cost the exact same as the half marathon, so I went ahead and just did it. I registered for that monster half marathon which to those of you who don't know it's 13.1 miles.

I'm actually excited and have a long run tomorrow of between 6.5 and 7 miles, this will be my last long run until after my 10K race since next week is the 10K.

Jason's triathlon has a .6 mile swim, 18 mile bike ride and 5.5 mile run. He is excited yet nervous as well. I know he will do fabulous since he can definitely swim that far, bikes at least 25 miles at a time at least once a week and the running, well that's a different story, but he is doing the 10K with me next Saturday and that is 6.2 miles so when he runs that he will show that he is able to do that distance. I will be sure to get pictures of him before and after the race there are photos taken by the race.

I will be sure to post updates on our training. Wish us luck as we are both very new to races.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Today Stephanie and I decided to do our entire 10K distance. We ran the first 4.1 miles, walked a short way then ran most of the way back. We probably only walked 1/2-3/4 total miles of the entire thing.

Our time was 1 hour and 7 minutes for the 6.2 miles!

This means just under an 11 minute mile. It was actually 10.8 minute mile pace.

Our first 3.1 was just about at 30 minutes exactly so we had slowed down a bit for the last 3.1 miles.

I'm happy with our time today since this is the first time we have done the entire distance. Our race is just 2 weeks away!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Maybe it's getting easier, but I can't really say that yet. I still don't like running. I don't mind it if I can have a break of walking every mile.

On Wednesday, May 26th, Stephanie and I walked/ran 5.2 miles. I would guess that 3 1/2 miles were running maybe, it's hard to know cause we walked off and on. We know we ran at least 2.2 miles cause that was marked on the trail we were on and then there were other moments of running.

Today we went over by West High School where a trail for Iowa City/Coralville starts and ran. We ran 2 miles, then walked a bit, then ran a half mile, then walked a bit, then ran again for another half mile, which included a huge hill at the end and was super hard then walked back to the church where we parked. Total distance about 4 1/2 miles (3 miles of it was running)

This was hard and I wonder why it was so hard since we just did that 5K (3.1 miles) 2 weeks ago. I guess I still don't like running.

We are taking a two day break and then on Monday, bright and early at 8a.m. we are going to do our entire 10K distance which is 6.2 miles. Since the 10K race is 2 weeks and 1 day away. We will try to run the 3.1 first all the way there and then walk/run the way back. I do hope I can do this and I don't die. I want to like running and I want it to not be so hard, so any suggestions would be great.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

After running the 5K race on May 15th I decided that I could do it again. So I registered for a 10K race on June 12th. Three reasons for this:

1. I talked my husband into joining me for the race. This will be the first time we have been in the same race.

2. I figured since I ran the entire way in the 5K that I could double that distance given 3 more weeks and even if I end up walking part of it, who cares, at least I tried.

3. This is a local race, right downtown Iowa City, only 5 miles away, what a great thing!

After registering for the race, my friend Stephanie and I were out running on Monday and I talked her into this race as well, so now I will have two people I know in the same race to share the joy.

Today Stephanie and I ran/walked 4.2 miles so we are closer to achieving our goal of 6.2 miles and we are still 24 days away from the race. I would say that we ran 3.0-3.25 of that distance and walked the rest. We stopped a couple times to stretch, but overall ran a pretty good pace .

Friday, April 30, 2010

Today my friend Stephanie and I went to Marion, Iowa where our race will be in 2 weeks from tomorrow. We decided to run the course and time it. Our time for the 5K (3.1 miles) was 33.34 so we were just under an 11 minute mile. Not the best, but I have to say this. I ran the entire thing without walking. This is the first time in about 3 years that I've ran that far! Next week we will do it again to see if we can improve our time. Last time I did a 5K which was I think 3 years ago, my time was over 35 minutes, so I'm doing better already.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

There is a time when running becomes easier, really. I thought it was a lie too.

For a few weeks I have ran off an on. About twice a week for a little over a mile or so. One day I actually went 2 1/2 miles, but it wasn't fun.

So last week a friend named Stephanie and I ran down the street a while and back after our Body Sculpt class. Found out later on it was 1.2 miles. So that was decent. Then last Wednesday Stephanie and I ran that distance again. On Monday we decided to run further. We went a total of 3.3 miles. Our goal was only 3.1 a 5K distance, but it ended up being a bit further than that. We did walk between a 1/2 to 3/4 mile of all that, but over all we were running most of it.

Today we only ran 2.1 miles, but again it was running almost the entire way.

On Friday we will both go to our race place and try to run the entire 3.1 miles and record our time. We are both hoping to do our race in 30 minutes or less, this would be just under a 10 minute mile. Then plan is to run at least 6 more times in the next 2 weeks because our 5K race is on May 15th at 8a.m. in Marion, Iowa.

This will be my first race in about 3 years, last one was in Columbus, Ohio with my sister and it was also a 5 K. I haven't ever enjoyed running, but I have to say when I was running this morning, I was smiling and I liked it!

Monday, April 12, 2010

So I lost a total of 6 pounds in 8 weeks for this little weight loss contest. Not the best considering that my goal was 2 pounds a week for a total of 16 pounds. However if you take into account that my heaviest weight was on January 15th, my weight loss has been 13.2 pounds, since on January 15th I weighed 153.0.

Sad to report, that I can't say that I ate the best. I ate better than usual, but not perfect. I exercised a bunch more by adding running to my schedule. Not a lot of running, but I did add at least 2-3 miles a week, with sometimes up to 6 miles a week.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

I didn't realize that I really was getting in super great aerobic shape. I mean I knew I was pretty fit, but with this whole weight loss thing never in my favor and all the charts saying I should be 15-25 pounds lower than I am, it kind of bums a person out.

I went to donate plasma on Friday and they also take all your vitals. Everything has to be in check to donate.

Your hematocrit levels have to be between a 38 and 52.

Your Protein levels have to be between a 6.0 and 9.0

Your blood pressure, temperature and pulse must also be in normal levels.

I've always had a high pulse and figured that was just me. Within the last year I've seen both a drop in blood pressure and a major drop in pulse. Here's a sweet example:

I used to average a blood pressure of 130 over 75 and 125 over 70 both great numbers

Well recently my blood pressure has been 115 over 65 or a tiny bit lower.

AND my pulse that used to be in the 90's all the time even sitting down. Has been coming down to the 60's and 70's in the last year. If I came in to donate plasma right after I had exercised, then I'd be in the 80's for a pulse, but if I hadn't exercised that day yet, then my pulse was in the high 60's to 70's.

However on Friday I came in, I had been up for about 4 hours, hadn't exercised yet, but I had eaten breakfast, ran around the house and been active. It was recorded as 51 on Friday.

The lady looked at me and said wow, you must be doing really well in getting fit.

I felt super great about that pulse.

So there you have it: I may not be what the charts say for weight for now, but my body is reacting to all this exercise and says in loud volumes, "You are healthy"

Thursday, March 25, 2010

I was doing almost everything right with eating and exercise until this last week. It was Spring Break and not only did I snack a few times that I knew better, but we took Daniel to his favorite place for dinner for his birthday and he picked "Old Country Barfae" as I call it. I ate too much there and I had and ice cream sunday at our Church women's social.

Then on top of that I missed 4 Body Sculpt clases because they are on a sign up basis and because of Spring Break there weren't enough to take the class so it was cancelled. So between the snacks and less exercise I failed to loose weight I gained it.

Lucky me!

Excuses aside, it's time to get back to work.

Monday I walked fast/ran 2.5 miles totalTuesday I taught Body Sculpt, went on the Eliptical machine for 10 minutes of hard intensity, then taught Zumba, then took another Body Sculpt class from my fitness coordinator to get ideas for my class.Wednesday I taught Body Sculpt and then after ran 1 super fast mile at 10 minutes 9 seconds. (that's fast for me)

HOpefully this week will be the pound loss plus another pound to make up for last week.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

So it's the 3rd week in the weight loss contest at Ladies Workout Express.

I got on the scale and was only down .4 pounds So over all I've only lost 4.4 in 3 weeks, but I guess that's better than gaining and it's better than nothing at all.

Last week those dang girl scout cookies came in and I ate my fair share. Then on Sunday I had promised to make several dozen cookies for Caleb's show choir thing and during making all those cookies I had plenty of tastes of cookie dough.

Monday, March 1, 2010

One year and 5 months ago I weighed 137 pounds. This was the lowest I had ever been since having children. At that time I was eating exactly right and exercising.

All the charts say that I should be between 120 and 130 for my height. Back then I was in a weight loss contest with Jason and I was not dieting, instead I was paying attention to everything I took in, making better choices and exercising more each week.

After that last weigh in I had a bunch of stuff happen to me that changed me:

Serious emotional stress

Depression

loss of a job that totally crushed me because not only was it unexpected, but it was a permanent job loss with no hope of ever getting it back

Death of my Grandfather

Death of a friend from work

other stressful things in my life

Because of these things I let myself go. Over the course of 1 year and 5 months I gained 16 pounds. I still looked halfway decent, but I could tell this extra weight was on me.

8 weeks ago, I decided that this has to end, this emotional drama. So I started journaling my food intake again and my exercise. I knew once I did things right again I would feel better not only emotionally but physically. I read some things on weight loss and then started doing those things I know how to do to loose the weight.

The first 6 weeks I lost 7 pounds which put me down to 146.

Two weeks ago one of my fitness places that I work out at started a weight loss contest. It had a cash entry fee of $20 because at the end there are prizes to the top losers!!

So I did the weight loss thing. I payed the $20 and signed up. When I weighed in 2 weeks ago I was 145.8

Today was week two and I weighed in at 141.8 Awesome, I was thrilled for I have been working hard. I'm so glad to have lost 4 pounds in just 2 weeks. I'm going to work hard to have a total weight loss of 16 pounds for a final weight of 129.8 If I don't end up with a prize, then oh well, my prize will be the Non-tight jeans anymore and feeling better overall.

Since I already teach 4 all over body sculpting classes a week, 1 Step class per week, 4 Zumba classes per week, and 1 Body Pump class every other week, I knew I'd have to pick something completely different to shock the body into weight loss. I say this because when you are doing the same workouts over and over, week after week your body will just stay the same. So I figured by upping the workouts and eating better I'm sure to drop a few pounds hopefully.

So I've added treadmill work. On Saturday I walked a mile and in between the walk I ran 1.5 miles for a total of 2.5 miles on the treadmill.

Today I only had time for a short treadmill workout, so I ran very fast for a 9:52 minute mile. My fastest time ever, it was hard, but felt so good. I only did one mile at this pace. I'm not a runner usually. And for years I've actually hated running so this is a new thing.

I know my goal will only be met if I work harder than I have been . This is hard, but I would like to see if by doing the workouts that I should be doing and by eating right what weight I will end up at.